Three out of four calls to 112 "are false"

The React Association, in partnership with a mobile phone company, the Special Telecommunications Service, the 112 emergency service and the Ministry of Health have launched a campaign to inform and educate the public on first aid in emergency cases and proper use of single emergency number 112 under the slogan "A life may depend on you!".

Given that three out of four emergency calls to 112 are false, the Under Secretary of State for Health, Raed Arafat, stressed the need for this approach.

"Each false, unjustified call may have a negative effect on another rescue operation. People must understand that they are the ones who make the first act of rescue", Raed Arafat said.

Nearly 8 500 people, victims of a car accident could be saved in 2010 with the help of the 112 emergency call service.

The 112 emergency service has more than 2 000 calls per hour and 60 percent of all calls require real medical crew intervention.

How can the 112 emergency service save the life of a man? Samuel recalls his experience in 2008, when he was on the verge of losing his life during a snowboard racing in the Făgăraş Mountains.

"... The weather was not favorable… strong wind, snow, but we carried on. When I got on that slope, an avalanche was triggered... I was covered in snow... I tried to dig to get out, but I couldn’t manage... I called 112, the operator immediately put me through with the Rescue group area and the mountain rescuers started to look for me. It took about 4 hours until they came and found me in the snow", Samuel said.

Alarming reality according to statistics

The React Association President, Anca Ştefan, explained that the idea of the campaign started from an alarming reality reflected in the statistics.

"Currently, 73 percent of the calls made to 112 are jokes or false emergencies. At one extreme, in Covasna over 86 percent of the emergency calls are false while at the other extreme in Bucharest only 55 percent of the people make false calls", Anca Ştefan said.

The campaign to promote first aid measures, "A life may depend on you!", is supported by demonstrative videos that show the main first aid maneuvers performed by the SMURD specialists and which are available on the website www.salvez.ro.

The campaign aims to promote the importance of rapid access to emergency health services by calling 112.

Moreover, within the project free first aid training will be offered to students in six cities in the country, but also to those interested in taking lessons.

Translated by: Denisse-Meda Bucura,
MA Student, MTTLC, Bucharest University